July 18, 1968
by Janine Stephenson
They are going to announce layoffs tomorrow. Becca and I are nervous about it for two reasons: 1) We're not exactly indispensable. Since coming to Washington we've sat in a room and done nothing. Then they put us on the telephones so we could give out wrong information. It seems that no one really cares what we do here, so if they got rid of us, I couldn't exactly blame them.
The second reason is related to the first: We're not allowed to contribute anything to the campaign. I'm not talking about money. Becca has had ideas about how to do certain things and no one wants to hear her suggestions. For example, she developed a terrific way of organizing campaign literature. But we're not allowed near the closets to help them with that. The one time she tried to go over there, she was told to go back to the phones.
I really hope that we aren't laid off. Becca and I decided that once the day is over, we will talk about what our choices are in terms of staying with the campaign.
About Project 1968
- Started in January 2008, Project 1968 is a blog docu-novel about the lives of two young women on their way to the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago.
It is a way to look at the day-to-day happenings from 40 years earlier. It was created solely by independent writer and researcher, Laura Axelrod.
Janine Stephenson, an 18-year old freshman from the University of Wisconsin, took the semester off to campaign for Senator Eugene McCarthy. She is accompanied by her best friend, Becca.
Amy, a 23-year old anti-war protester, works at a well-known peace group in Chicago.
Links to source notes, ephemera and commentary are located at the bottom of many entries. Comments are allowed on these back pages
Project 1968 in the Media
Search
Books on the '60s
- I Ain't Marchin' Anymore! by Dotson Rader
- The Battle for Morningside Heights by Roger Kahn
- To Goof or Not To Goof by Dick Clark
- Burn, Baby, Burn!: The Los Angeles Race Riot, August 1965 by Jerry Cohen and William S. Murphy
- The Choices We Face by Lyndon Baines Johnson
- In Touch by John Steinbeck IV
- The Trial of Dr. Spock by Jessica Mitford
- Looking Back: A Chronicle of Growing Up Old in the Sixties by Joyce Maynard
Notes
The News in 1968
- August 18 - 24, 1968
- August 11 - 17, 1968
- August 4 - 10, 1968
- July 28 - August 3, 1968
- July 14 - 20, 1968
- July 7 - 13, 1968
- July 1 - 6, 1968
- June 23 - 30, 1968
- June 16 - 22, 1968
- June 9 - 15, 1968
- June 2 - 8, 1968
- May 26 - June 1, 1968
- May 19 - 25, 1968
- May 12 - 18, 1968
- May 5 - May 11, 1968
- April 28 - May 4, 1968
- April 21 - 27, 1968
- April 14 - 20, 1968
- April 7 - 13, 1968
- March 31 - April 6, 1968
- March 25 - 30, 1968
- March 10 - 17, 1968
- March 2 - 9, 1968
- February 25 - March 1, 1968
- February 18 - 24, 1968
- February 11 - 17, 1968
- February 4 - 10, 1968
- January 28 - February 3, 1968
- January 21 - 27, 1968
- January 14 - 20, 1968
- January 1-13 in New Hampshire, Part 3
- January 1-13 in New Hampshire, Part 2
- January 1-13 in New Hampshire, Part 1
Interviews
Ephemera
Further Reading & Listening
- Chicago:1968 by Len Kody & Jenny Frison, letters by Kurt Hathaway
- 1968 Conference
- 1968/2008 — The Inheritance of Politics and the Politics of Inheritance
- Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum
- Pacifica Radio Archives | 1968 Revolution Rewind
- BBC - Radio 4 - 1968 Myth or Reality?
- Dean Blobaum's Chicago 1968
- Electing the President by the League of Women Voters
Like what you see?
Copyright Info
- Project 1968 is copyright 2007 by Laura Axelrod. All rights reserved. It is registered with the Writers Guild. This is a work of fiction and any resemblance between the characters and persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Content cannot be copied or redistributed without the express written consent of the author.
